A Really Good Soup!

Friday night when I hosted Pokeno at my house I decided to make this soup I found over at The Naptime Chef. Everyone loved it!

I had to change things up just a bit, because I don't have a hand blender and my food processor broke last week and I haven't had time to replace it. I used pureed tomatoes instead of the whole tomatoes and thought it made the soup a little heartier.

Tomato Soup Florentine

Makes 8 cups
1/2 c. onion, finely chopped
3 T. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1/4 c. white wine
28 oz. whole tomatoes with juice
2 c. chicken broth
2 T. dried basil or 1/4 c. fresh basil leaves, torn
2 T. sugar
2 T. balsamic vinegar
5 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and dried OR 5 oz. fresh spinach leaves
1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and stir until soft. About 4-5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and pepper flakes, cook for 1 minute.
2. Carefully pour in white wine, simmer until almost completely evaporated. Pour in the cans of tomatoes with their juices, chicken broth and basil. Increase heat to medium-high and bring soup to a boil for 1 minute. Then, reduce heat and simmer soup for 10 minutes.
3. Working carefully, puree soup with a hand blender until completely smooth. Or, scoop it into a blender and puree until smooth. When all of the soup is completed return it to the pot and bring it to a simmer.
4. Allow soup to simmer for a few minutes, then stir in the sugar and vinegar. Stir in spinach and allow to wilt. Serve hot with a garnish of cheese.

I also made a seafood bisque, which was also very good. It was a fun night, but I didn't win once!

We had a nice quiet weekend. Mostly stayed around the house. Went out for brunch after church yesterday and then came home and spent a rainy day watching football and reading curled up on "my" chair!

Daughter leaves Thursday for New Orleans and so the early part of this week will be spent getting last minute things together for her!

I'm heading up a little "gig" for the teachers at the middle school on Wednesday morning at 7:15! How do I get involved in these early morning events?

Happy Monday, y'all!